to a still animated Mrs. Sanders. It seemed to take an extraordinarily long time before she’d calmed down enough for us to leave.
Once home, I took a long hot shower that eased some of the aches but didn’t touch the tiredness. After Aiden had applied more numbing salve on the various scrapes, I crawled under the comforter and was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.
“Did you manage to talk to the witch who’d created the spell breaker yesterday?” I asked as Belle propped her hip on the counter and took a sip of her coffee.
She nodded. “Lovely old lady she was, too. Absolutely horrified to discover her spell was used in a break-and-enter attempt.”
“And the horror was genuine?”
“Utterly. She was told it was needed to unlock an old, spell-protected safe because a missing will was believed to have been stored inside.”
“And she believed that?”
“She said they looked genuinely upset. It was the woman’s grandmother, apparently.”
“So it was a couple?”
Belle nodded. “I got their description—”
“She didn’t have security cameras installed?”
“No, unfortunately. Neither description sounded familiar.”
“So it definitely wasn’t Kash?”
“No.” She frowned. “Why would you ask that?”
I quickly updated her on what we’d found at the motel and then added, “He was the only outside person who knew about the books.”
“He didn’t know about the storage unit, though.”
“He could have followed you there easily enough. It wasn’t as if you would have been watching out for that sort of thing.”
“True.” She hesitated. “If it was him, how did he get around the restrictions I placed on him? He shouldn’t have been able to talk to anyone else about them.”
“Maybe it was already too late by the time you did that,” I said.
“Maybe.” She grimaced and took another drink. “We need to go see him.”
“I’m thinking right after we close. Penny and Celia can handle the cleanup and till.” And certainly neither were averse to a bit of overtime.
She frowned. “That probably won’t leave you much time to get back home and gussied up for the party.”
“I’m changing here and meeting Aiden there.”
“And he didn’t object? Color me surprised.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Why?”
“Because I got the impression he wanted you there for the meet and greets.”
A smile touched my lips. “He did, but in all honesty, it’s far better if I keep a slightly lower profile.”
“Liz, the man is besotted with you.”
“Yes, but his mother and at least some of his pack aren’t. I don’t want to cause any more problems than I already have.”
“They’re problems that will have to be confronted if you two ever do become a permanent item, you know.”
“Yes, but let’s not put the cart before the horse in the meantime.”
She snorted softly. “Kash is usually at the gym between four and five on a Saturday. It’s certainly the one place he won’t be expecting a confrontation.”
“Sounds perfect.” I plated up a cake order, wincing a little as my palm protested the movement. Both it and the cut across my back had all but healed overnight, but the pale scars remained tight. They were also rather inconvenient—or, at least, the one on my spine was, as the low scoop of my dress’s back meant it would be on full show. Then again, maybe it would remind certain members of his pack exactly what I went through to protect this place. “What’s your mom doing tonight?”
“I suspect she’ll be Skyping Dad. She’s missing him something chronic.”
And so was Belle, I knew. I touched her arm. “You should go up there and visit.”
“What? And leave you without access to my sensible self?” She snorted. “That’s not what a good familiar does when her witch is regularly faced with all manner of supernatural nasties.”
“A week or two won’t make that much—”
“Hey, I left you for a day, and what happened? Instant attack by a DNA-or magic-warped critter. Thanks, but no thanks.”
“Oh, which reminds me—” I paused and studied her speculatively. “How was dinner last night?”
“You already know how it was—” She stopped. “Ah.”
“Ah, indeed.” I raised an eyebrow. “Why the secrecy?”
“It wasn’t a secret, and it wasn’t planned. And it’s Mom’s fault. She invited him, not me.”
“You didn’t object, though.”
She sighed. “No. He’s … not as bad as I make out.”
“We all know this. You’re the one that’s taking forever to admit the obvious.”
A smile twitched her lips. “And yet, I can’t make it too easy for the man—where’s the fun in that?”
I laughed. “At least it explains his comment that your mom has been rather helpful when